Revealed: How much time UAE residents spend online, on social media

The UAE residents spend more than eight and a half hours on the Internet every day, says a report - fitting for a country with the fastest mobile Internet speed in the world.

According to a report issued by the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), UAE residents spend 8.36 hours online every day — nearly two hours more than the global average of 6.58 hours. Around four hours are spent on personal computers and 4.35 on smartphones. This is the 10th highest worldwide across all devices.

Similarly, the UAE residents spend 4.35 hours on social media every day, which is the 12th highest globally.

The Internet utilisation rate in the UAE is the second highest worldwide at 99 per cent, with 9.93 million enjoying access to the World Wide Web.

In its ‘Digital Lifestyle’ report, the authority said that the country’s average mobile Internet speed is 134.68 Mbps, which is the fastest in the world. It is significantly higher than the global average of 30 Mbps. The country’s fixed broadband speed is the 13th fastest worldwide at 124.7 Mbps, as compared to the 63.46 Mbps global average.

The average annual per capita digital spending is estimated at $3,775 as compared to $1,766 global annual per capita digital spending.

TDRA said that 59 per cent of the UAE population buys their needs online every week and 32.4 per cent make purchases through phones. Around 68 per cent buy miscellaneous digital content while 33.4 per cent purchase their food needs online every week.

In terms of advertising on social media, YouTube has the highest reach in the Emirates at 93.4 per cent, followed by Facebook at 82.5 per cent, TikTok at 81.3 per cent, LinkedIn at 69 per cent, Instagram at 60.2 per cent, Snapchat at 37.2 per cent, and Twitter at 28.1 per cent.

The report issued by the TDRA has statistics from the Digital 2022: Global Overview Report and aims to offer a snapshot of the digital lifestyle in the UAE.

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